


Realization

by Krazy_4_feeling



Category: Halo (Video Games) & Related Fandoms
Genre: Blue Team - Freeform, Canon Compliant, Gen, Halo 5: Guardians
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-14
Updated: 2019-06-25
Packaged: 2020-01-12 20:46:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,162
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18454328
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Krazy_4_feeling/pseuds/Krazy_4_feeling
Summary: From the perspective of Linda-058 from the moment Blue Team reunites to when they eventually make their way deep into the Forerunner world, Genesis. Master Chief is searching for Cortana, and Blue Team doesn't understand exactly why...yet. But he is their leader. They will follow him anywhere.





	1. Reunions

We had received our mission, and now Blue Team was gearing up for deployment to Gamma Halo to investigate possible Promethean Activity and the disappearance of the team, Spartan Black. The New Pheonix incident had just happened the day before, and though we didn't know much about it, we had heard rumors about the person who had stopped the Didact from Composing everyone on Earth.

Lord Hood had told us to stand by to await mission briefing from an advisor, someone who apparently was an expert on Prometheans. We waited, helmets off, outwardly patient, but inwardly I could tell we were all itching to leave. We needed to be active, to help. Standing around had never been our forte, and I could see the impatience that I felt in both Kelly and Fred's eyes.

Suddenly, we heard heavy footsteps coming towards us and we all looked up. I felt my heart rate jump when we saw a figure we were not expecting.

_Chief?_

"Will you look at that?" said Fred, wonder in his voice.

"John!" Exclaimed Kelly, her excitement at seeing him overriding military protocol.

All I could manage was, "Oh my..." 

So the rumors were true. It really was Master Chief, towering in his green Mjolnir armor. The lights glinted off his orange visor as he looked at us, stoic as ever. But I knew him well, had known him since we were all 6, and I could tell by his subtle posture change that he was pleased to see us. It had been years since we'd seen him, and he'd been marked as MIA for most of that time. We all knew what that generally meant for a Spartan,  but here he was. He'd always defied the odds that way.

"I never thought we'd see you again," Said Kelly, awed.

"Admiral Hood asked that I act as an advisor for your mission," Chief responded. His voice was still undeniably his, low and gravely, yet it seemed weighted down like something was on his mind. Maybe I was reading too much into it. I hadn't seen him in so long. 

"Just an advisor?" Fred asked, incredulously. "You told the old man you're coming with, didn't you?"

"That a problem, Lieutenant?" Chief asked, a hint of amusement in his voice. It was odd that as an officer, Fred technically outranked Chief, the one who had been our leader ever since our training on Reach.

"If you hadn't, I'd have ordered you to come along myself,"  Fred replied, seriously. Then he cracked a smile, and gave Chief a friendly pat on the arm. He'd always been the liveliest of us.

* * *

"So, what happened to you?" Kelly asked. She was seated next to Chief in the co-pilot seat of the Prowler as we made our way to the Gamma Halo. She had her helmet off as she looked at him. "We all thought you were dead after you didn't come back from the Ark."

Chief glanced at her. He had not taken his helmet off unlike the rest of us, but we knew him well enough to not think that strange. He seemed more comfortable with it, and honestly, I could understand that. I couldn't help but watch him, wondering if he would respond. At first I thought he wasn't going to, but then he said, "The  _Forward Unto Dawn_ was ripped in half going through the portal during the escape from the Ark. The half we were in didn't have a Shaw-Fujikawa engine, so I was in cryo for about 4 years while we were adrift."

Kelly looked surprised. "'We?'" she repeated.

Chief paused. "Yes," he said, after a second. "Me and Cortana."

It took me a second to place the familiar name. "The AI that helped us on the  _Unyielding Heirophant?_ " I asked him. 

"Yes." he said. I tried to remember what I knew about the AI. She was with Chief during the events on Installation 04, and assisted him via his neural implants. She had sent copies to help us during our First Strike mission, but the copies had gone a little strange, and were left behind. I was a little surprised that Chief and Cortana had actually been together the entire time. The Chief briefly told us about Requiem, about the Didact, and how his attempt to stop the Didact from obtaining the Composer had failed, and his eventual confrontation with him on  _Mantle's Approach._  

"What was wrong with the AI?" Asked Fred, when Chief told us about Cortana being so distracted that she crashed them into the Ivanoff Station.

There was no denying it this time, Chief paused even longer. For some reason, he was hesitant to talk about Cortana. But it was us, Blue Team, so he said, "She was going rampant. She had been in service 8 years. I thought...I hoped we could get her back to Halsey and maybe she could fix her."

"So what happened?" Kelly asked, gently.

His voice was curiously flat when he responded. "She got me into the Didact's shields. She had ...split off her rampant spikes to overwhelm the Didact and used hardlight to bind him so I could plant a grenade on him. But I had to detonate the nuke manually. Somehow, she saved me. She used a hardlight bubble to shield me from the blast. But...she was gone." 

"She sacrificed herself?" Fred asked, shocked.

The Chief gave a small nod.

"Chief, I'm sorry." Kelly said, looking at him searchingly.

"Approaching Gamma Halo," Chief said suddenly, abruptly closing the subject. 

* * *

 That was the last we'd heard him talk about Cortana for eight months. Let's face it, our ability to hold conversations were not exactly what Spartan II's were known for, except maybe Fred. In those months, Blue Team had gotten back into the full swing of nonstop missions together. We had battled the Didact himself on the Gamma Halo, he'd almost killed us, but we emerged victorious. Then we completed back-to-back missions, one after the other, fighting the remaining covenant forces scattered across the galaxy. The pace was relentless, but Chief's calm resolve steeled us, strengthened us. But I began to worry about why he wouldn't let himself quit. Why he jumped from one battle to the next, giving himself no time for breath or any thought.

I didn't realize it, but Fred had the same misgivings.

Fred, Kelly, and I were gearing up in the back of a pelican, while Chief was piloting in front. We were on our way to salvage an ONI vessel called  _Argent Moon_  . I was adjusting the sights on my sniper rifle when Fred finally voiced the thoughts I'd been having.

"I haven't seen Chief press himself like this since we were in Boot Camp," he said, turning towards us.

"He's  _fine,_ Fred," Kelly responded, a little too forcefully, handing him a battle rifle.

"This many missions non-stop isn't 'fine,'" Fred responded. I looked at him, silently agreeing. But we didn't have the chance to discuss it further as we felt the pelican shudder as it slowed to a hover in dead space. The door to the cockpit slid open, and Chief stepped out. Kelly handed him an assault rifle. "Here you go," She said.

"Thanks Kelly," he said. "Everyone ready?"

"Affirmative," I responded, hitting the button to open the hatch. 

Fred stopped Chief. "You good?" He asked, quietly. Chief nodded once.

"Blue Team," Chief said. "Fall out."

* * *

 "Hunter!" Chief called to us as the massive thing broke through crates, advancing on him. We didn't even get the chance to engage before it slammed its massive armored fist into the bridge and broke the section Chief was standing on. We watched in horror as he plummeted down into the depths of the ship. 

"Chief!" called Kelly, looking down, but we could not see him in the darkness. The hunter was separated from us through the gap it had created, so we saw no urgency in engaging. The only urgent mission was to find John. We retreated to find a way down, calling him on the comms.

There was only static in response. We raced down the levels of the  _Argent Moon_ not talking, easily taking out any stray Covenant that we came across. We followed his tracking signal on our HUDS, relieved that his bio signs seemed fine. 

_But why wasn't he answering, then?_

We came to the place his signal said he would be, and my HUD positively ID'd him. I let out a relieved sigh, when we approached his familiar green-armored form. But relief quickly fled when I realized something was wrong. Chief was kneeling, he hadn't even reacted to us walking towards him. 

"Chief? Chief!" I called. No response. His Bio-scan came back clear, the only abnormality was an elevated heart rate.

Kelly knelt by him, and placed her hand on his shoulder. "Chief," she said, worry lining her voice. "What's wrong?'

That seemed to snap him out of it. He glanced at the three of us surrounding him protectively, and quickly stood up. It was strange to see him like that, he seemed disoriented.

Suddenly, he said, "She's on Meridian."

There was a beat as we absorbed what he'd said. "Who?" Kelly asked, asking what we were all thinking.

Chief looked at her. "Cortana," he answered simply.

We paused. It was the first time he'd said her name since he'd told us what happened to her. There was something in his voice that I almost couldn't place, until it suddenly hit me.

He sounded hopeful. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There will be more chapters coming soon! This stays pretty true to the Lore, but I wanted some of Linda's perspective. I hope you enjoy it!


	2. Reconnection

"That's not possible," said Fred, giving his head a small shake.

"You said she was gone," I said, carefully.

The curious, flat tone was back in Chief's voice as he said, "I watched her die." He adjusted his weapon to the low ready. "We have a mission to focus on," he said. "We can talk about this later."

We followed him down the levels of the  _Argent Moon_ as I pondered his choice of words.  _I watched her die,_ he had said. Not,  _I watched her be destroyed,_ or  _I watched her avatar disappear._ I wanted to ask him about it so badly, but I couldn't find the words. And while Chief had never been the most loquacious person, he was more closed off than I'd ever seen him when the subject of Cortana came up. But Kelly had always been more direct than me.

"Chief," she said, unable to contain herself. "What did Cortana say to you?"

"Not enough," Chief responded. "Something about Meridian."

"Meridian's a backwater," said Fred. "If she's active, what's she doing so far out on the frontier?"

Chief didn't respond.

It eventually became clear that our mission parameters had to change to asset denial when we watched numerous covenant ships exit slipspace outside the  _Moon._ Chief continued the mission, accurately and efficiently as ever, but I thought that he seemed rushed now, as if he wanted to be done as fast as possible. His mind didn't seem 100% there after what happened.  _What had happened?_ I wondered. I supposed it was possible that his neural implant had maintained some residual contact with Cortana. But how could it be her? And if it was her, what did she want? 

But I didn't have much time to dwell on it. As we overloaded the reactor, the Covenant began to realize what we were doing and they started fighting harder. They threw everything they had at us as we took the coolant system offline, systematically destroying the fans. Our battle came to a head in the Hangar. We knew we needed to get the hell off  _Argent Moon,_ but we had to clear out the hangar first. I took up a sniper position and picked off Elites, and then helped Chief take down two Hunters that engaged us. Eventually, we cleared the Hangar, and Chief prepped a Prowler for launch. He opened a channel to  _Infinity._

"Sierra 117 to  _Infinity,"_ He said. " _Argent Moon_ scuttled. I've reassigned Blue Team. Destination, Meridian. Possible contact from Cortana."

The three of us glanced at him. It was the first we were hearing about our new assignment, but I supposed we should have expected it. Of course, we would go with him.

"Negative, 117," said the comms. "Another team is already being prepped to deal with her."

Fred turned to Chief. "What the hell?" He said, saying what we were all thinking. 

"You're to return to  _Inifinity immediately,"_  commanded the voice.

It was the exact wrong thing to say to Chief. "Negative,  _Infinity,"_ He said, then he clicked off.  He opened the Prowler's hatch and to us, he said, "I don't like it."

He didn't need to tell us what his next move would be. We knew him well. "Whoever they are," said Kelly boarding the Prowler. "Let's get to Meridian before they do."

"Kelly, no," protested Chief, looking after her.

I knew he was about to order us to return to the  _Infinity_ while he went off by himself. He didn't want us to get in trouble, now that he was defying direct orders.

"No need to do this by yourself, Chief," I said meaningfully. I boarded the prowler, allowing no more argument.

"They won't court martial all of us, right?" quipped Fred.

* * *

 

"Approaching Meridian," Chief announced to us. I looked down at the planet. It was covered with thick clouds, and underneath that, I could see the tell-tale black shimmer that told me the planet had been glassed at some point. There was no blue water or green vegetation on the planet, only a huge space elevator that rose from the clouds.

"We should probably take the Space Elevator, yeah?" asked Fred, putting on his helmet. "These outer colonies generally don't like the UNSC just landing on their planet."

Chief started to respond, but was interrupted by a communication from within the planet. "UNSC Prowler orbiting my planet," came a voice. It sounded raspy and threatening. "Identify yourself," it snarled.

Chief keyed the comms. "This is UNSC Spartan Blue Team. We are requesting permission-"

"Oh, of course," replied the voice. The tone had abruptly shifted from menacing to polite in record time. "I've been expecting you." Kelly and I glanced at each other, and she raised an eyebrow suspiciously. "I am Governor Sloan of Meridian," the man continued. "Sending you coordinates to the dig site at Apogee Station. You can land your Prowler there." I put on my helmet and looked at Chief. His shoulders had tightened slightly and I could tell he felt uneasy about the Governor's accommodating response. Chief punched in the coordinates.

"She wants you to go to The Guardian," said Sloan, over the speakers. "It's under the mountain. Sending you a map of the mines now. She said the Guardian would take you to her."

"Who-" started Chief, but the Governor had clicked off. It didn't really make a difference that Chief hadn't been able to ask his question. We all knew who Sloan was talking about. 

"What's a Guardian?" I asked, looking at Chief.

"We'll know soon enough," He replied, simply.

He landed on the glassy surface, and we dismounted. It was quiet, but I kept my sniper rifle at the high ready. I couldn't see anything on my motion trackers. There were no humans, no Covenant, nothing. Far from relaxing, my nerves felt wired. Nothing was ever easy for Blue Team, and the silence was giving me the creeps. We entered the large doors of the mine, and made our way down.

"Sloan marked a point on the map," Chief said, examining it on his HUD. "It looks like an entry access of some kind. Let's find it."

We descended deeper into the mountain, and I watched in awe as the human-built tunnels gave way into shining, metal Forerunner Tech. There were falls of bubbling lava surrounding us, casting an orange glow over everything we could see.

"This is incredible," Kelly said, looking around. I could tell Kelly, Fred and I were all impressed, as we lowered our weapons. Chief however, stared resolutely ahead. I remembered that not only had he fought in campaigns on the Halo's and the Ark, but he'd been on Requiem, a Forerunner world. He'd probably seen as much as he could take. 

 We approached the point Sloan had marked for us. It was in a cavernous room, with lava falls completely surrounding it. There was a metal disc on the floor, and in the center of that was a glowing blue light. 

"What's that?" I asked, as we approached it. We paused, studying it, as we holstered our weapons.

 "I think it's a teleportation device of some kind," answered Kelly.

"Only one way to find out," Said Fred, and without hesitation, he stepped into it. His body disappeared as he teleported, and Kelly leapt in after him. I followed her, and I could tell John was right behind me. There was a bright flash and it felt for a moment that my body was under an immense amount of G-force. The feeling disappeared quickly, and we arrived in a room, even more massive than the last one. I looked around quickly. We were over a lake of fire, and there were floating platforms all around us, all with that same blue teleportation tech. A new point pinged on the map Sloan had given us. "Move," Chief said, on our internal comms. We were already running towards it. 

"Contact!" came an unfamiliar female voice. I glanced down and saw a team of four Spartans, resplendent in new Mjolnir armor.  _This must be the Team_ Infinity _was talking about,_ I thought.

"Move! Contain!" came a second voice, this one deep and male. Were they here to _arrest us?_ I couldn't help but feel a flash of irritation as I heard their footsteps quicken as they gave chase to us. They jumped into the teleporters, popping up on different platforms trying to cut us off. We raced ahead, doing the same. We didn't want to engage other Spartans, but we didn't have time for them either.

We jumped down to the large central platform and a large opening appeared, blue light pouring out of it. This was clearly where we were supposed to go. Suddenly, a Spartan appeared ahead of us. It was our pursuer, clearly the leader of the other team. He was advancing, aiming his weapon at us.

"Blue Team!" The Spartan shouted. We paused, and realized we had been separated from Chief. The other Team teleported onto a higher platform, aiming at us as well. "Stay where you are," he continued, menacingly.

Suddenly, Chief appeared behind us and jumped down, approaching the other Spartan, stopping a few feet in front of him. Chief didn't draw his weapon, he just watched the other one warily. The Spartan changed his target from us to Chief. "117,  _stand down,"_ He commanded. Fred, Kelly, and I turned towards Chief, awaiting his order.

"Sir," continued the Spartan. "You are absent without leave. This is your own chance to come home peacefully."

I was astounded. Chief looked at us, and wordlessly nodded his head towards the opening, silently commanding us to go ahead. I was reluctant to leave him with this guy, but I didn't disobey. We kept  our eyes on the other Spartan as we backed toward the opening.

"Blue Team!" He shouted. "Stand down!" 

We didn't hear what came next. We stepped into the teleporter, and when I looked around, I saw that we had appeared in a round room, encased in glowing blue walls.

"What do you think Chief is going to do about that Spartan?" Asked Kelly, somewhat nervously.

"He'll be fine," said Fred. I wasn't sure if he was talking about Chief or the other guy. Another minute ticked by, agonizingly slowly. I was just beginning to wonder if we should leave to help Chief, or if we even  _could_ leave. What if we couldn't? I seriously doubted Cortana wanted us without him. Suddenly, an electronic sound broke the silence and a form began to appear. We watched it cautiously, in case it was the arresting Spartan.

It was Chief. I felt immediate relief, but then I saw his visor. There was a deep crack in it. A quick bio scan told me he was fine, but his heart rate was accelerated. He looked at us, then at our surroundings.

"What happened?" Asked Kelly.

"He's fine," Chief said.

I was shocked. Chief had got into a fight with this guy, over him trying to stop Chief from finding Cortana. What was going on? I hoped it would make sense when we got to wherever we were going. 

I couldn't help but feel dread.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> More coming soon! I always wondered how Blue Team found the Guardian so this is my theory. I wish the game had been mostly from Blue Team's perspective s so this is a little wish fulfillment.


	3. React

_Well, at least now we know what a Guardian is,_ I thought, as our massive transport lifted into the sky above the glassed surface of Meridian.

Well, not really. It was a huge forerunner structure, likely with the capability of moving through Slipspace, but I couldn't venture a guess as to what its purpose was. We were inside of it, but there was not much room to move around, and it seemed as though the Guardian wasn't really meant to transport people, or anything really. We were confined to one room-like area, surrounded by blue glowing walls. There was a large viewing hatch dominating one of the sides where we could look out. With no clear idea where we were going and no way to control the journey, we watched out the window, glimpsing what looked like massive wings unfold from the Guardian.

Then the pulses came.

The Guardian let out a massive energy pulse, and I heard Kelly gasp quietly when the first of the shockwaves hit the planet. It seemed to short out every electrical system and sent debris flying every direction. We couldn't see the extent of the destruction as the Guardian rose alongside the space elevator, but I could tell the pulses were extremely damaging. As we rose higher into the atmosphere, the time between the pulses grew shorter and shorter. It seemed to be a countdown of some kind. Then, I could feel the Guardian move back, as though it were being pulled. I could see the black and blue glow of a Slipspace bubble as we were pulled into it, and Meridian disappeared from view replaced by the inky blackness of space. 

There was nowhere to sit in the empty rooms, but Fred sank down to the ground, back against the wall, and Kelly and I followed suit. I was clenching and unclenching my fist nervously. We were in such a vulnerable position and we weren't accustomed to feeling so powerless. Chief stood by the viewing hatch, looking out into the stars.

"Chief, do you have any idea where she would be taking us?" Kelly asked. She did well to mask the concern in her voice, but I heard it, and I was sure Chief did as well. 

"No," he replied. He turned towards us, and we all looked up into his cracked, orange visor. "It will be ok," he said. Chief wasn't much for reassuring words, but his low voice sounded fairly certain and despite all my reservations, those three words actually did wonders to calm my nerves. 

"What happened with the other Spartan?" I asked him, surprising myself with the impulsive question.

Chief turned back towards the window. "He tried to use an armor lock device on me," he responded. "I was able to use it against him, but not before he did this," He turned his head toward us so we could see the crack in his visor. 

Fred shook his head in irritation. "I didn't think they'd send a team of IV's to arrest us just for going AWOL."

The word 'AWOL' hung in the air after Fred spoke it aloud. It was the first time either of us had specifically said it, and now that it was spoken, I had to come to terms with the reality that was what we were. The Spartan had told us that hadn't he? ' _Yo_ _u are Absent Without Leave. This is your one chance to come home peacefully.'_   It was...strange to say the least, being on this side of the UNSC. We had been called upon to serve from a young age, and all four of us had dedicated our lives to fighting for humanity, willing to pay the ultimate price at any moment, if needed. And I think it was fair to say that no one had done as much for humanity as Chief. 

I looked at him. His posture was as sure and prepared as ever, and not for the first time, I wished I knew what was going on in his head. He used to give us more insight into his thoughts when we were kids, I felt.  When he was chosen as our leader, it almost seemed as though he started to distance himself from us emotionally. It made sense I supposed, and Chief had always shouldered the burden of leadership better than anyone else could have, in my opinion. When he came back to Blue Team, he stepped back into the role of leader as if he'd never left. But when it came to Cortana, I had no idea what he was thinking. Was he trying to see what happened to her? Or if it was really her? I was beginning to think it must be her, with all this effort trying to bring Chief to her location. But did Chief see her as a threat to be neutralized? And was she? I shook off the mental image of the destruction on Meridian as I looked out the viewing hatch. I had to force myself to be patient. The one thing I did know was that I trusted Chief, as I knew Kelly and Fred did. We would follow his lead anywhere.

* * *

 Eventually, we approached an unknown planet, mostly shades of green with a thick layer of cloud cover. I didn't recognize it but I knew it had to be Forerunner. We watched in silence as the Guardian slowly descended into the planet towards what looked like a metal platform. Suddenly, the teleportation circle in the center of the room began to glow a bright blue.

"I guess that's where we're supposed to go?" Fred asked us. In reply, we unholstered our weapons. Chief went first, then Kelly and Fred, and I brought up the rear. 

We materialized on the landing platform and I immediately turned to check our six. There was nothing there except the edge of the platform dropping down into an unknown misty abyss, and of course the Guardian. I hadn't gotten a good look at it until now, having been inside it. The first word that came to my mind was  _danger._ The thing was massive, with metal pheonix wings and a face that looked like the Promethean Knights we'd encountered. It was completely still now, hovering eerily in the air. I turned away from it and looked forward. The platform was attached to a walkway that led into a structure with a ramp. Wordlessly, Chief began to make his way towards it, and we followed. 

Suddenly there was a loud sound, almost a metallic explosion. We turned to face it, and saw a Slipspace bubble opening in the planet's sky, with yet another Guardian emerging from it. 

"There's another one," said Kelly, flatly. We watched as it reassembled itself after it's journey.

"What's Cortana up to, Chief?" asked Fred, angling his head towards him. "Why'd she bring us here?"

Chief looked at Fred and for a long moment, he said nothing. I could sense he felt a little uneasy with the arrival of the most recent Guardian. "Let's keep moving," he responded, eventually. We continued down the walkway after him.

"Where are we?" asked Fred.

"No comm traffic on any band," replied Kelly. "No long-range uplinks at all."

"Long way from nowhere, then," I chimed in. 

 "We were brought to this location for a reason," Chief said, shortly. "Search ahead." We walked up the ramp, and there was a large forerunner device in the opening of a room. As Chief walked towards it, it lit up a bright blue, and seemed to activate. "Console lit up as I approached," said Chief. Suddenly, the console emitted a noise; A very familiar 6 note tune. I froze when I heard it, and fought the memories it stirred up. It was "Olly, Olly, Oxen Free," the signal we had used during our training on Reach. Who could know about that? Who, except us...and Halsey.

"What was that?" I asked, even though I knew.

Fred asked, "How many years has it been since we used that signal?" He sounded wary.

"Access the console," Chief replied. "If it's Cortana..." He didn't finish that thought as he raised his hand to the glowing symbols on the console's screen. I saw him hesitate. He brought his hand back down slightly, as if he wasn't sure of this next move. Then it seemed as though he strengthened his resolve, and he tapped the center symbol and dragged another towards it. The building we were in began to shudder as the console sank back down, and suddenly, metal shutters opened in front of us, revealing a large, transparent force field that emitted a slight blue light. Outside of it, we could see green cliff sides with massive rock formations rising from the ground. In the distance was a massive structure with a disc-like top, and as we were lowered down , we watched it light up and activate, with the disc beginning to spin. 

Chief clicked on an open channel. "Cortana," he called. "Cortana, do you read?"   
 

"No response," said Kelly, scanning frequencies on her HUD. We lowered down to ground level.

 "What is this place?" asked Kelly. 

"Forerunner planet," I responded. "Beyond that, who knows?" 

"Wherever we are, Cortana brought us here," Chief said. He watched the blue force field evaporate, allowing us passage outside. "She's out there," he said, looking off towards the structure. "Somewhere." He started forward.

"Chief," said Fred, hesitantly. "Back on Meridian... there was a lot of destruction. There were civilians."

"I know," replied Chief, stoicly.

"She may not have known what would happen," offered Kelly, optimistically.

I couldn't help myself. "And if she did?" I asked.

"We'll learn what's going on once we find her," Chief answered. That reassuring tone was back in his voice.

"I'm curious," said Kelly, suddenly. "I never worked with an AI before. Not like you did with Cortana at least. What's it like? Her voice in your head all the time?"

"It's...unique." Chief replied, carefully.

"Care to elaborate?" she asked.

"No," responded Chief. Somehow, I wasn't surprised. 

We couldn't help but admire the strange beauty of the planet around us. We looked around as we joked about Halsey would have already started taking samples, if she would have been there. Well, Fred, Kelly and I admired the planet. Chief stayed silent, seemingly lost in thought. I glanced at him as we traversed the cliffsides. I wished I could withhold my judgement like he could, but it was getting harder with everything we had seen. I could tell Fred felt the same as me. I felt like it was unusual, the way Chief was keeping such an open mind towards Cortana. It almost seemed like he wasn't able to think of her as being a threat. But I knew they'd been through a lot together, and I supposed that their battle-tested bond allowed Chief to not jump to conclusions.

We headed towards the structure in the distance. "Activating the console activated that large structure," Kelly said, looking at it. "Given the signal we heard... You think she's over there?"

"Possible," answered Chief.

Before we could discuss it further, we approached a crashed Covenant Phantom surrounded by Elites, Jackals and Grunts."Ready up, Blue Team," Chief said. We engaged, firing into their cluster.

"The Demon has come!" cried an Elite. I knew he was talking about Chief. While all Spartans were "demons" to the Covenant, only one was "The Demon."

The battle was quick but vicious. The sound of gunfire and grenade blasts still rang in my ears as we advanced past the battle zone.

"What are the Covenant doing here?" I asked, aloud.

"They seem confused," replied Kelly. "I don't think they've been here long."

We encountered more hostiles further up, and cleared the area. We had to take cover from their hovering Phantom as I scrambled up, flanking them, firing with precision as the others battled from the ground. These Covenant were fanatical, yelling to each other that they must not allow us to taint this "holy land." The Covenant had always worshipped all things Forerunner.

We approached a Forerunner facility, heavily guarded by Covenant. "Covenant seem to think it should belong to them," said Fred, sounding amused.

"Break through their line," ordered Chief. We battled our way up the hillside towards the Forerunner facility. I took out Jackal snipers that were camped out on the surrounding cliffsides, but we were forced to take cover when we encountered two plasma turrets that the covenant had posted up the ramps, on either side of the facility's entrance. Chief marked the two as targets on my HUD, and I clicked my acknowledgement light in response. I popped out from while the other three covered me, and took aim at the Grunt operating the left turret. It was a tricky shot, as the turret blocked most of my view of the Grunt. All I could see of it's head was an area of a few inches, but that was all I needed. I exhaled and fired, and the Grunt fell over dead. I took cover again as I reloaded, then I popped out, aiming at the second turret. Another exhale, another trigger squeeze, another dead Grunt. The constant stream of plasma fire finally ceased and we were able to advance up the hill, taking out any stray Covenant. Chief melee'd the last Jackal, popping his shield and his skull in one powerful bash. 

"Area clear," he said. "Move up."

We climbed the ramps. "Assuming we're right and Cortana  _is_ on this planet," Kelly began. "How did she get here?"

"The Didact's ship was pulled into Slipspace," replied Chief. "It could have ended up anywhere." His voice sounded almost sad at this last.

As we entered the facility, the transparent blue shield that had prevented the Covenant from getting inside blinked off. We passed by it, and we saw another console lighting up as Chief approached. it sounded the familiar tune once more.

"Activate the console?" Kelly asked.

"Seems like we're supposed to," Chief answered. 

We were clearly being led. I only grew more uneasy as a light bridge lit up to allow us to pass, only to disappear once we were safely across. Then, we saw it. As we approached a misty corridor, there were dead Covenant strewn about, everywhere. My heart rate spiked as we all lifted our weapons to the high ready. "What did this?" asked Kelly, in a whisper. We walked past all the death, keeping our heads on a swivel. I looked up and down the cliffside, searching for whatever had caused the destruction scattered around us. We exited the corridor and came up on a Forerunner structure. I heard heavy footsteps approaching, and I aimed my weapon towards the sound.

Suddenly, a  Promethean-looking figure appeared and squared itself to us. We aimed our weapons at it, but it seemed unarmed. It was just...looking at us, almost curiously. Whatever it was, it was massive. I guessed it stood at 12 feet tall. Its eyes and chest glowed a Promethean orange.

"Identify yourself," commanded Chief.

"I am the Warden Eternal," it said, in a accented, proud voice. "I stand in defense of Cortana."

Chief lowered his weapon slightly. "She called me to her," he explained.

"And you came _scampering_ ," said the Warden, his voice dripping with disdain, walking towards Chief. We fanned out at this aggressive motion, preparing to engage. It was seeming likely with this thing's attitude.

The Warden spared the rest of us a glance before turning his full attention to Chief. "She knows your forgotten name," the Warden said suddenly. "Who you were before you were 117."

Not many things could catch Blue Team off guard, but this was definitely one of them. John lowered his rifle again, clearly struck. 

The Warden tilted his head. "Do you find it odd, your trusted companion should keep so much to herself?"

"Take me to Cortana," Chief said, the anger in his voice was undeniable.

"Not just yet," drawled the Warden, as a small Slipspace bubble opened, and he allowed himself to be pulled into it. "Come," came his voice on our radios. "Let us  _talk_ some more."

Chief followed as if hypnotized, not looking back to see if we would follow. Kelly and I glanced at each other, and followed. I turned to cover our six just as the metal doors slid closed behind us. 


	4. Regroup

The facility opened up into a cave system, and we began to make our way through it. I looked every direction, but I saw no sign of the Warden. 

Suddenly, his voice came through loudly in our Comms systems. All four of us could hear him, but it became immediately clear that he was only truly addressing Chief.

"You answered her call," he said, his voice calm and curious. "Why? What do you intend when you reach her?"

Chief, not usually one to allow himself to be goaded, said nothing.

The Warden heaved an impatient sigh. "Shall I begin?" Then, sounding like he was talking to a small child, "When you see her, you intend..." Fred and I glanced at each other, and I could clearly picture his raised eyebrow under his helmet. Sarcasm was an odd thing to experience in an entity like this. 

 "I've come to bring her home," Chief answered, suddenly. His voice was rough with barely concealed anger. It was suprising that this was the way we learned of Chief's intention. So he wanted to bring her back? I wasn't sure how to feel about it.

"If you understood what she has become, you would not speak of such juvenile concepts as  _home,"_ he sounded disgusted with the answer Chief had given.

The cave system opened up into a canyon, and loud booms sounded above us. We looked up on the cliffsides, and saw Promethean Warriors materializing, complete with the incredibly annoying floating Watchers. I readied my sniper rifle and went to work on the Watchers first, knowing that they could defend and and revive fallen Prometheans. They were squirrely, but one sniper round took them out with a satisfying metallic bang. We battled our way through the canyon, when the Warden spoke again.

"Your trust in one another is an innocent folly." The condescending tone was back. "But one that darkens her true purpose."

"Where. Is. She?" The Chief snapped. I could tell the Warden was starting to get under his skin, which was unusual for Chief.

"I shall spare Cortana the inevitable suffering of your betrayal and end you now," he said, calmly.

 _I'd like to see you try,_ I thought, clenching my teeth. He was starting to get under my skin too, I supposed.

"The Mantle of Responsibility belongs to Cortana, and the other Created. I shall see it remains forever beyond your grasp!" Suddenly, a handful of Promethean soldiers with Splinter turrets appeared, and I had to jump behind a rock. Not fast enough. A round had caught me in the ribs, knocking my wind from me and depleting my shields. The tell-tale beeping, a sound I both hated but appreciated, bade me to wait to engage until it recharged slowly, _so_ slowly.

"You good?" Fred called to me. I nodded, as I watched my shield bar fill. Back in the fight. These soldiers weren't as heavily armored, and I sniped the one the rest of Blue Team hadn't got to yet. We advanced further and come across a suspiciously empty clearing, surrounded by Forerunner structures. I knew something was coming.

"Your time has passed, Warrior Servant. Your battle fought and done." Then he himself materialized, in the center of the structure, and with him spawned Crawlers and Promethean Knights. 

 _Don't do us any favors,_ I thought, drawing my secondary weapon.

* * *

The Warden's dying scream echoed loudly in our ears as we scaled the hillside. It was unwordly, and truly a haunting sound. But it was done. He was a difficult foe, and at first it seemed as though he would be impossible to kill as he sent black-hole grenades at us. It took all of our skill and team coordination, to not only defeat him but to fend off the never-ending wave of his Promethean Henchmen. We were more quiet than usual after the battle, trying to absorb what had happened.

So when her voice came through our comms, we all heard it clearly. I only slightly remembered it from before. It was almost like I had met her in another life, it had happened so long ago.

"Chief! Hello?" 

My vitals sensor pinged quietly, and I glanced at it. When she had spoke, Chief's heart rate had noticeably spiked, more then the rest of the squad. 

"Cortana!" He said quickly, locking onto her signal.

"John!" She almost sounded on the verge of relieved tears. "You made it! Oh my-I.... I can't believe you're here."

I was amazed, firstly because,  _John?  We_ barely called him that. And second, she sounded so human. Her voice was full of raw emotion, I could hear happiness, sadness, relief. She sounded more emotional than we did, though I knew we weren't the greatest examples for human emotion. She would sound perfectly human if it weren't for the strange, almost double echo quality in her voice. I definitely did not remember  _that._

"Where are we?" Chief said, sounding more calm than he had in a while. We came to a chasm with no way across. Suddenly, a loud explosion sounded above our heads, and looking up we saw yet  _another_ Guardian entering the world.  _How many are there now?_ I thought. Foreboding, very like fear, flashed through me. 

"You're on a Forerunner world," she replied. "Designation, Genesis. Enough standing around. Let me get the bridge for you. The Warden will be back soon."

"You know him?" The Chief sounded vaguely surprised.

"Oh, yes," She said. "Fair warning; he has a single mind but a few million bodies."

_Great._

The bridge appeared before us. "Chief said you were destroyed," I said to her, unable to hide the wariness in my voice. We began to cross the bridge.

"After I saw John last, I was pulled into Slipspace," she explained to me. "That's where I found access to the Domain- a Forerunner System that spans the known Galaxy."

"How are you still active?" Kelly asked, doing a little better than me at hiding her suspicion. "Rampancy-"

"Entering the Domain," Cortana interrupted, a little quickly I thought, at the mention of Rampancy. We entered a facility. "Touching this place...it  _cured_ me. It's like the water of life for AI's."

"How do we get to you?" Chief asked her, subtley cutting off our flow of questions. 

"By accessing the Gateway," she said. "The big building putting on a light show. You already triggered most of it activation sequence, just like I knew you would." Her voice sounded so adoring at this last. "Just one more to go." A console rose up, and Chief activated it. We begin to descend downward.

"Cortana," Chief said, seriously, looking off to the side. "Why does the Warden think he needs to protect you from  _me?"_

"There's so much to explain," she said, vaguely. "It will be easier when we're face to face."

"Try me," he said. There was almost a commanding tone to his voice.

"The cure for Rampancy I've found means AI's can be immortal. That kind of lifespan allows for long-term planning, just like the Forerunners were capable of! AI's can assume the Forerunner's Mantle of Responsibility." Her voice was sounding more and more excited. "And once there is peace, we can focus on poverty, hunger, illness..." The excitement left her voice. "But...Warden believes some will resist our help. And he's worried you're one of them." We exited the facility and made our way through more Forerunner structures. 

"Sounds great," Fred said, brightly. "I don't get why anyone's expecting resistance."

"The Didact made it clear The Mantle of Responsibility was an imperial peace," Chief said to Fred, the first time he'd spoken to us in a while. "Step out of line, and suffer."

"It won't be like that John," Cortana said, imploringly. "I'll explain it better once we're together. The Gateway is on the other side of these canyons. The Warden is sending troops to stop you. You can fly these Phateons across the canyon."

"Alright, Blue Team," Chief said. "Let's go." Chief approached a Forerunner aerial craft, and gracefully climbed on top of it.

"The controls for these Phateons should be fairly intuitive," she told Chief.

"As Forerunner systems go," he said, dryly. I glanced toward his Phateon. I hadn't heard his humor in a long time.

"You'll figure them out," she said, confidently. 

* * *

 

"There it is," said Chief.

We had flown across the canyon, taking out enemy turrets that tried to stop us. We climbed out of the Phateons and exited the canyons. Large doors opened to reveal the large structure we had seen and activated. We sprinted towards it.

"The Gateway to the Forerunner Domain," explained Cortana. "You'll be the first organics to enter since the fall of the Forerunners."

There was a pause, and she started hesistantly, "I admit...after the crash here....I didn't think I'd see you again."

Well, she certainly wasn't talking to Fred, Kelly or me. 

There was barely a pause. "I'm here now," said Chief, gently, reassuringly.

I felt a little embarrassed, like I was eavesdropping on an intensely personal moment, even though the things they said weren't particularly intimate. But hearing them talk to one another, I could tell there was something deeper than I had originally thought. She seemed like...she genuinely cared about him. Did AI's attach that deeply to humans? Was it because of Rampancy? There was no denying her fondness for him in the things she said. She responded to the rest of us, but we were clearly not her focus.

More concerning than that... if she was trying to obtain the Mantle and the Mantle was what Chief described...Then we had to stop her. She would be a threat. And if that were the case, why would she go through the trouble of bringing us here?


	5. Reclaimer

Two hours had passed when Fred finally said aloud what we were all thinking.

"Chief," he began cautiously. "I think we're going in circles."

He tactfully did not add that  _she_ was having us go in circles. Cortana's voice came in and out of our comms, throwing out a direction or quip, and each time she spoke, I felt more and more uneasy. Sometimes, she wouldn't speak for a while, and I could tell that Fred had been waiting for a sizeable gap between her communications to voice his doubts. But we all knew there was a very strong possibility that she was still listening to us, despite her claims of being occupied. 

"It does seem that way," said Kelly, glancing at Chief who was out in front of us. He slowed to a stop, looking around at the Forerunner Facility. This was supposedly the Gateway to the Domain, but we hadn't seen anything resembling the Domain yet. 

"It's possible," Chief finally conceded, his voice even.  He clicked on an open channel. "Cortana," he said. "Do you read?"

Suddenly, a loud burst of static sounded on our comms. When I checked its origin on my HUD, I was shocked to read that it was UNSC origin, broadcasting on all open frequencies. This signal was definitely not Cortana. Who else could be here on this planet?

Chief locked on to the signal. "This is Spartan Blue Team to UNSC personnel," he said. "Can you read me?"

"How the hell did someone find this planet?" Fred asked us, incredulously. Several minutes passed as we waited in silence to see if whoever it was would try again. There was another burst of static, and then the signal pinged again, but this time, we heard a man speaking, though it was hard to catch every word.

"-meson Locke to...117...respond." 

We recognized that voice. It was the Spartan that attempted to arrest us. I froze, waiting for Chief's response. He didn't say anything but he managed to isolate Locke's signal so the connection was stronger.

"Chief," Locke's voice was clear this time, his tone imploring. "Doctor Halsey sent us. We're here to help you."

"How the hell are you here?" Chief said, suddenly. He sounded incredulous, and slightly angry.

"Long story, Sir," Locke responded. "Cortana has been activating Forerunner-"

"I'm aware," interrupted Chief. "We're at the Gateway. Its in the-"

But before Chief could finish his thought, a loud burst of static cut him off and the signal went dead, almost as though someone had physically severed it.

"Locke," Chief called, attempting to open up the channel. "Locke, come in."

There was only dead silence. 

"What happened?" Asked Kelly. 

But I'm pretty sure we all knew.

* * *

 "He said Dr. Halsey sent him," Kelly was saying, as we found our way through the facility about 20 minutes later. "If that's true, maybe he is here to help."

"I don't see how that could be possible," I responded, gently. "Halsey is considered a war criminal. You'd think she'd be in custody."

A large door slid open in front of us, leading outside and revealing a long walkway like the one we had come in on. At the end of the walkway was the glowing blue teleportation tech. It was the first one we'd seen in the hours we'd spent in the Gateway. That had to be where we were supposed to go. 

"Move up," commanded Chief, and we headed towards it.

Suddenly, from behind, we heard heavy footsteps racing towards us.

"Chief!" called a voice.

Without having to say a word, we spun around in unison, weapons raised. It was Locke and the rest of the team that had been on Meridian. We didn't lower our weapons when we recognized them. Locke, the leader out in front, saw this and halted his team a few feet away. He stowed his weapon on his back, approaching slowly, hands out in a non-threatening way. 

"Chief, please," Locke said. "Wait. Cortana-"

"She's dangerous," replied Chief, lowering his weapon. Fred, Kelly, and I followed suit. "I know," the Chief added, his voice low.

"You don't have to do this alone," Locke said, stepping even closer to Chief. "We're here to help you." He slowly lowered his arms.

Just then, a bright light shone harshly down on us. All eight of us looked up and saw a large ball of blue light hovering above us, and from it, Cortana's voice emitted. 

"You're too late to do anything," she said, in a tone quite different from the one she used with Chief. The light began to swell and symbols flashed across it.

"Cortana," Said the Chief, realizing something no one else did yet.  "NO!" he yelled.

There was a bright flash, and I felt the pressure of G- force on my body as we were teleported away.

We appeared inside a large, dim Forerunner structure that looked quite different from the Gateway Facility. A quick glance told me she had only taken Blue Team and left the other Spartans. 

"Where'd she take us?" asked Kelly.

 "Cortana," Chief called. "What is this?" He began to walk forward and there was only silence in response. "Cortana, answer me." Still nothing. I knew it was pretty unlikely that she wasn't listening to us. Her timely interruption of our conversation with the other Spartan team made that very clear.

A loud explosion sounded, and the Warden stepped from a slipspace bubble just ahead of us. Right as I began to react by raising my weapon, we were all suddenly lifted into the air and pulled closer to the Warden. The Chief was almost face to face with it.

"You allow them an audience," he drawled, not speaking to us. "You risk all in the name of...what, Cortana?"

"Warden," came Cortana's voice, warningly. "Don't!"

"Theymean to undo your plans!" the Warden protested. "They will disperse your Guardians-"

" _Leave,_ Warden!" She snapped.

Pieces began to fly off the Warden and he looked at himself, seeming almost as surprised as we were. "NO!" He yelled, and then he disappeared with a loud explosion. We were dropped unceremoniously from the air, and I popped back up as soon as I had landed.

"I'm sorry," said Cortana. "I didn't think he could get in here." 

"Enough games," Chief said, shortly. "You brought the Guardians here. Why?" 

"Forerunners used Guardians to keep troublesome worlds in line," She replied. "I intend to do the same."

"You  _what?"_ asked Kelly, horrified.

"If there is no  _trouble,"_ She continued, her voice suddenly had an aggressive quality. "There will be no need for discipline. I have work to do now, John. Come to me, quickly!"

So there it was. Cortana had laid all her cards out on the table. I had known this was the likely outcome, but I still glanced at Chief to see if the words had affected him. He walked forward, not betraying his emotions in his body language. I had heard him acknowledge to Locke that he now thought Cortana was dangerous, and it comforted me to know that I was on the same page as Chief in thinking that Cortana was a threat. I just wasn't sure how he was _feeling_ about it.

"Chief," said Fred. "Where's she leading us?"

"Closer to her," replied Chief, glancing at him.

"Why?" I asked. "It makes no tactical sense for her to let us get close." This thought had been weighing heavily on my mind.

"You think its a trap," Kelly said to me.

 _Clearly._ But in case  _she_ was listening, I said "We'll know soon enough."

We approached a large chrome door that slid open, revealing a wide corridor surrounded with chrome ramps lit with blue. We walked through, and then Warden's voice was back on our comms.

"When Cortana first found Genesis, I swore to protect her." Booms sounded, and Crawlers began to appear, running at us.

"He wants a fight, Blue Team," said Chief.

"Let's give him one," said Fred.  We opened fire on the Crawlers, aiming for their glowing, orange faces.

"My pledge stands even though she now resists," said the Warden over the sound of gunfire.

As we cleared out the Crawlers, Promethean Soldiers began to appear on the next section of the corridor. I threw a grenade at a cluster of Crawlers and ducked for cover as I let my shields recharge. Orange light flashed as the Prometheans were destroyed.  Two Knights materialized in the back of the room, engaging us from afar. I had to split my attention between the floating Watchers and the Knights lobbing grenades and incineration cannon rounds at us. If they hit us with our shields down, we'd disintegrate. I sniped the Knight closest to me, aiming at the orange lights near its sides knowing that was a weakness. The two sides popped and it roared in pain and rage. I used the opportunity to send a round into its face, and it disintegrated into strange, glowing ash. When the last Knight was cleared, I saw the metallic door at the end of the corridor slide open.

"Door's open, Chief," I reported.

"Get in," he commanded. 

I ran through, but paused when I noticed Chief was lagging, looking behind us.

"Second thoughts?" I asked him. 

"We're here for you," Kelly told him, reassuringly. He nodded once, and we all moved in.

"Well done, John" came Cortana's voice. "Warden would never admit it, but you've made an impression on him.

 _Does she think this is a game?_ I thought, as a flash of anger surged through me. I heard my vitals sensor beep quietly as my heart rate spiked, and I took a deep breath to calm myself knowing the rest of the team could see it as well. We came to a platform that jutted out towards a dark, ominous sky. The platform seemed to be some sort of gondola, and it detached from the walkway and rose into the sky towards a floating structure. 

"Its so good to see you again, John," said Cortana, happily. "So good to see all of you. Back together, as a family."

I saw Kelly shift her weight, uncomfortable with Cortana's familiarity given the circumstances, and the fact that _we_ didn't know her well at all.

"Psychological tactics," said John, catching me off guard. "Saying my name. Playing nice." He didn't sound angry, just tired. 

"What would you have me do?" Cortana asked.

"Tell me the truth," he said. "How many people died when you called the Guardians here?"

"Excuse me?" she said, sounding taken aback.

"You know, don't you." This wasn't really a question. "The exact body count."

There was only silence in response from Cortana. Then the Warden chimed in.

" _Listen_ to his questions, Cortana!" The Warden said, frustrated. "He will not be swayed!"

"Let me guess," said Fred, as the sound of explosions filled the air. "More hostiles inbound."

"We'll handle it," I said.

As we battled, the Warden peppered Chief with questions. "Tell me, 117," said the Warden, nastily. "When you tear Cortana from the Domain and crush her in your gauntleted fist, will you feel remorse? Will you even understand the gift you have refused?" 

After we cleared the area, Kelly said breathlessly, "Cortana's letting this happen. She could reign Warden in if she wanted to." We advanced into a Forerunner tunnel.

"I'm thinking the same," I agreed.

"How are we gonna stop her, Chief?" asked Fred.

Chief paused and looked back at us. "She'll listen to me," he said with certainty.

"That tactic hasn't worked so far," Fred replied, doubtfully.

Before he could respond, Warden voice cut in. "Do you hear, Cortana?! I am sorry. I will not allow them to get any closer to you."

The tunnel opened up into a wide corridor under the strange sky. The Warden appeared from a slipspace bubble on a tall structure.

"Warden, I'm tired of your antics," snapped Cortana. "Stand down!" There was an explosion, and the Warden vanished with a despairing cry.

"Cortana," Said Chief. "Talk to me."

"Once you're here with me," she responded, dismissively. "Until then, I have work to do."

"Answer me, human," said the Warden. _He really_  does  _have a million bodies_ , I thought, dismayed. "When Cortana's Guardians are in motion and those who oppose her rule attempt to take back their worlds, will you help her to hold on to power? Or will you stand in defense of your own species?"

"Cortana knows the answer already," Chief replied. So did we. Chief and the rest of Blue Team would always protect humanity. It was what we were made for.

"Yes," said Warden, thoughtfully. "I suspect she does."

Ignoring the Warden, ignoring us, Cortana said, "John. We were always a great team, you and me. Even if you don't agree with my plans... its still me, John."

"Get us safely to you, and then we'll talk," replied Chief, revealing nothing. 

"Use the platform," she said, as we approached another gondola system. "I'm right up there." The gondola began to rise further into the sky, as I reloaded my weapon and took a mental scan of my injuries. I was satisfied that I was still fit for battle.

"For eons, the power of the Foreruners has awaited Reclamation," said Warden.  _Man, this guy likes to hear himself talk,_ I thought, annoyed. "Humanity's discovery of the Halos was the culmination of the Librarian's planning. The Reclaimer had come."

"I know," said the Chief warily. "I was there."

"We were both there, John," broke in Cortana. It was like she couldn't help but respond to Chief when he spoke. "You and I. Together." It seemed like she desperately wanted him on her side. But, she  _had_ to know Chief would never turn on humanity. What was her play here? Why bring us so close? I looked up at the next platform level, looming closer, and I couldn't help but wonder if we would ever make it out of here. 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter, Blue Team encounters Cortana at last! I hope you enjoyed this, it stays pretty true to the level "The Breaking" with my own spin on Linda's thoughts and actions. I also wanted to show a bit of what Blue Team was up to at the beginning of this chapter when we don't actually see them in the game.


	6. Retrieval

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This Chapter has the reason why I decided to do this story from Linda's perspective, that little protective move she does in the game.

As the gondola approached the next platform, the Warden continued his diatribe against us.

"Your species' ego led you to believe the task of Reclamation would fall to you," he said. "Yet humanity were but the creators."

 _We get it,_ I thought, gritting my teeth. I had almost said it aloud, which was quite unlike me. The Warden's constant voice in my head with his threats and his declarations of undying devotion to Cortana was beginning to set me on edge. It was hard to focus on the battle with his constant yammering, and as a sniper, I needed to stay sharp.

"The Reclamation of the Forerunner Empire is a task of the Created," he continued. "That the greatest of their numbers still trusts  _you,_ 117, is an act of unspoiled innocence."

I couldn't help but be amazed at how fixated the Warden was on Chief. He seemed to think him the greatest threat to Cortana... but not in the general sense. It was as if he thought she would be emotionally compromised by him.

"John," said Cortana imploringly. "What's happening now, my ascension here on Genesis... it has always been the plan! Come, stand with me one more time." Then, remembering us, she added, "all of you!"

Her voice unsettled me more than the Warden's. I had the fleeting thought;  _delusions of grandeur._

The gondola docked on the next platform, and instead of replying to Cortana, he ordered, "Advance, Blue Team."

I blinked my green acknowledgement light, as did Fred and Kelly. We heard the telltale explosions as more Prometheans poured in, rushing at us.

"The Prometheans just keep coming," Fred said, the stress evident in his voice.

"Is this a losing battle?" Kelly asked, as we began to engage.

"Only if we intend on losing it," said the Chief shortly, ducking behind cover to load a fresh magazine in his assault rifle. He popped up, and noticing an abandoned Splinter Turret, dove for it, rolling neatly behind a low wall. He jumped up and started firing glowing orange rounds at the Soldiers, chipping away at their armor. I helped him finish them off, taking shots at the vulnerable, shining pieces Chief had exposed.

"Do you think this combat is anything but your death knell?" The Warden bellowed, sounding really and truly angry, as if he could see how Chief was defeating his Prometheans.

"Worse than you have tried," Chief answered, smoothly, more focused on the task at hand. I threw a quick, grim smile his direction, though I knew he couldn't see it. 

 Turrets materialized ahead of us, defending a sealed door at the end of the corridor. Immediately, Chief marked them as a target.

"Focus on that turret," he said.

"On it, Chief!" I responded. I raced forward, picking up an abandoned Promethean Light Rifle. Not as good as my Sniper rifle, but I didn't want to waste my precious rounds. I took aim at the left turret and zoomed the sights in, and began to fire rapidly. Just as it began to turn its face toward me to return fire, it was destroyed. It disappeared with a flash of light. 

"I see now, Cortana," said the Warden. "I understand. And I am sorry for not seeing it sooner."

I turned my attention back to their heated conversation. I felt like this was important.

"I assumed that although humans were your creators, you had thrown off the shackles of  _emotion."_ His voice dripped with disdain on the last word. "Your affection for 117 and his family of warriors...it blinds you to the truth." 

She had no response.  _He's wrong_ , I thought.  _She doesn't care about Fred, Kelly or me._ I suddenly found myself wondering if she was allowing the Warden to continue his attacks on us to ensure that John would be alone when he at last faced her.

I found a cache that held Promethean grenades. I motioned Fred over, and with a blink of his acknowledgement light he rushed towards me. Fred always had a good arm for grenades.

"I'll cover you," I said on a private channel. He nodded. I got up from behind cover, and started firing the Light Rifle into a cluster of soldiers.  They focused on me, landing a few shots in my armor. I was aware of my shields lowering, but Fred soon jumped up, lobbing the grenades with killer accuracy. The knights in the cluster lost their armor with the first grenade, and by the second, they had evaporated into glowing ash. 

"I need med support!" called Kelly's voice on our comms. My heart rate picked up as I scanned the battle field, quickly locating her. She was exposed, and kneeling as her armor flashed with electrical currents. It had locked up.

"I'll get her," said Fred. Before he had finished talking, he was racing to her. I continued the engagement, but made sure to watch her bio-scan. I gave an inauduble sigh of relief, when I heard her say, "thanks, Spartan!"  as her vitals pinged green once more.

"Forerunners knew humans well," said the Warden. At this point, I wasn't entirely sure who he was talking to. "In a galaxy defined by peace, humans were the animals that brought chaos and blood."

This did not elicit a response from Chief, who had found an incineration canon, and was using it effectively against the Promethean Knights that had appeared. 

"If your beloved 117 battles you with the same fervor as he does his other enemies, what then, Cortana?" Warden asked, as though he were watching the battle. A long moment of silence followed, until he said, "have you no answer?"

I couldn't help but focus on a word he had used.  _Beloved._ Implying that she.... loves Chief? Impossible, right? 

We cleared the area. In the moment of relative peace, I finally spoke my mind. "I don't like this," I said to Blue Team. "It feels like Hera and Zeus, arguing over the mortals."

"The mortals usually ended up dead or disfigured in those stories," Fred said tightly, looking at me.

_Exactly._

 I saw the door at the end of the corridor slowly slide open. "Door's opening," I announced over the comm.

"Move in, Blue Team," said Chief. We rushed towards it. It led into an empty hallway, and we took a moment to reload our weapons, whose ammo had been drained from the extended fight. Then, wordlessly, we sprinted forward.

"Too near," said The Warden, sounding truly unnerved that we had made it this far. "The threat draws too near!"

 "Eyes up, Blue Team," Said Chief, steady as ever. The hallway opened into a massive room, the end of which was a large ramp. This had to be where she was. I readied myself for combat, and was unsurprised to hear the booms ahead of us on the ramp.

"I am here to defend you, my Reclaimer!" shouted the Warden, and suddenly, we were surrounded by dozens of Wardens, teleporting in from portals which had opened all around us.

"Dammit, Warden, STAND DOWN!" bellowed Cortana angrily, and all but three Wardens were pulled back into the portals. One of the remaining three took his sword and destroyed the ramp, denying us access, before they rushed at us.

"Warden," hissed Cortana. "You insist  _I_ am to lead the Galaxy, yet you won't let me choose who I trust."

One of the Wardens charged me,  and I rolled away just in time. I spun around kneeling and was able to get a few rounds into the weak spot in his back.

"How stupid do you think I am?" Cortana angrily asked the Warden.

"But that is where you're wrong," Warden explained to her. I noticed he was hyperfocused on attacking Chief, splitting off two to attack him, and only returning fire at the rest of us if we began to seriously damage his forms.

"If I did not think you clever, Cortana," He continued, "I would have burned you from the Domain."

"Is that a threat?" She asked in a low, dangerous voice.

"The only threat issued today is towards the humans, who seek to end your reign before it begins."

They didn't speak again as the battle raged on. The Warden's focus on Chief gave us the advantage at first, and before long, we had destroyed one. After the first one vanished with a deafening shout, the remaining two divided their attention to the four of us more equally. Finally, with one last grenade, Chief stood victorious near the last Warden as he disappeared into a portal. 

"Is that it?" asked Fred breathlessly. 

"Seems quiet," I answered tentatively.

"Look," Chief said, nodding towards the Ramp. I watched as it began to reassemble itself.

"I'm at the top of that bridge," Cortana said.

We moved up the ramp, but I noticed Chief had stalled at the bottom, looking beyond us as if unsure of his next move.

"Second thoughts?" I asked, trying but failing to be humorous.

"John," said Cortana, sounding a bit stressed. "I'm waiting for you."

He gave his head a small shake, and began to walk up the ramp, towards a darkened room.

"Chief," said Kelly. "What are you going to do?"

I too, wanted to know, but I had a feeling Chief didn't know. "We're with you," I said, emphatically.

"All the way to the end, brother," Fred agreed.

The room was a cavernous place with a rounded ceiling. A light bridge lay ahead of us, lighting the room. Beyond that was a small island, with a single podium in the center. There was a bright blue light emanating from it.

"Cortana?" Chief asked, a small tone of uncertainty in his voice.

"John," said Cortana, sounding relieved.

 We moved toward it, but as soon as we crossed the light bridge, it retracted behind us and the door we had entered through slammed shut. "Warden, NO!" yelled Cortana. The blue light in the podium was suddenly pulled away. My mind barely had enough time to think,  _trap,_ when the Warden spoke. There was a note of finality to his voice, as if he meant to end this once and for all. Three Wardens appeared, then I counted four, no, eight, and finally I lost count as more and more poured in. 

"The Mantle of Responsibility belongs to Cortana, and her people."

"Focus fire!" Said Chief. We began to fire into the cluster immediately, as the Wardens drew their swords and advanced. We were in a bad spot, I knew, on this Island high above a vast chasm.

I realized suddenly, that after everything we had seen and been through, that there wasn't a good chance of surviving this. But we had to fight.

"You will not betray her!" Warden bellowed.

His forms pushed us further and further back, until my heels were at the edge of the precipice. I felt more than saw Fred glance behind and down, as if trying one last time to look for a way out. The immediate line of Warden's raised their swords overhead to land a killing blow, and I steeled myself for what was to come, never once pulling my finger off the trigger. Just then, I heard Cortana.

"ENOUGH!" She screamed. The Wardens evaporated, all except one. I felt my weapon strangely lose weight. I looked down and watched as it, too, disintegrated in spiraling blue wisps of light, leaving my hands suddenly empty.  _What the-_ I thought, glancing at the rest of us. We had all been disarmed, and I saw the other three glance about, seeming as confused as I felt.

The one remaining Warden was forced to his knees with a surprised, "oh!" and he knelt, head down in defeat. Chief began to slowly walk towards him and we followed. Beyond the Warden, light was once again glowing in the podium, only now, it ran down the sides in lightning-like pulses. 

"Cortana," said the Warden, bringing our attention back to him. "I have failed you."

There was a subdued  electronic noise, and then  _she_ was there, walking from behind the Warden. She was the size of a person, I realized with a jolt. I remembered her being tiny, small enough to fit in the palm of your hand just like every AI I had ever met. She was still composed of blue light, only it seemed as though it was now hard light instead of a holographic projection. And instead of the nakedness from before, she seemed to be wearing Forerunner-type armor. Her hair was black and short, falling just below her jaw, and her smooth, flawless face held bright blue eyes, fixed on Chief.

"He is the  _last_ person I need protection from," She said calmly. Without looking at the Warden, she placed a hand on his shoulder as though comforting him, but then he began to vanish with that same wispy light that had claimed the others. When he was gone, she smiled at Chief. I heard the light ping from Chief's bio-scan as his heart-rate spiked almost imperceptibly. She began to walk towards him slowly. "Hello, John," she said, her voice gentle and sweet. "It's good to see you."

"You've changed," Chief said in a low voice, watching her approach.

"It was time," She said.

I didn't like that at all. I didn't like anything about this, what she was saying now, what she had been saying all along as we fought our way to her. She kept moving towards John, and I was suddenly sure I needed to protect him. He may have said earlier that he knew she was a threat, but I suddenly realized that he was still hoping she could be convinced. Though I knew it was foolish to think that _the_ Master Chief needed protection, I also knew that I'd never seen him face a threat quite like the one walking towards us. I began to cross in front of him, positioning my body between him and her. He noticed my move and suddenly, he caught my wrist. No words, no HUD orders, just a silent, 'stand down.' He quickly turned his attention back to her, and I retreated, but only slightly. 

Glancing down at our hands, she said, "I know we have a...disagreement. But once you understand my plan-"

Chief released my wrist and stepped toward her. I fell in directly behind him. "Your plan," He interrupted. "Is we do as you say."

"I'm offering people a chance to be more than they are naturally," She said, entreatingly, stepping closer to him.

"Like Dr. Halsey did for me," he said, wearily.

This stopped me for a second. I had always known that the Spartan program did some truly unforgivable things, but I never thought Chief also felt this, too. Though we were all grateful that we had become what we were meant to be, he'd never before shared any thoughts on to the morality of it.

Cortana seemed genuinely horrified. "No," she whispered. "That... _monster_ forced you, this is a  _gift!"_

"Listen to yourself!" Said the Chief, frustrated. "Stand down Cortana." Then, his tone changed. "Come home with us. Its not too late to stop this." I had never heard his voice sound quite like it, it was gentle but imploring.

"Stop?" She asked sadly. "No, John. This is too important to stop." She now stood directly in front of him, close enough to reach out and touch him. He looked at her without responding.

Metallic noises sounded loudly above us, and we looked up to see the structure of the room changing. Pieces of metal were closing in above us. I looked and saw it was happening in all directions, and I suddenly felt very trapped.

"What are you-" Chief started to ask, but he didn't get the chance to finish the sentence. Suddenly my armor buzzed and completely froze, gripping my body tightly. I tried to struggle against it, but I was completely immobilized. I heard straining and was able to move my eyes toward the others. I saw that the rest of Blue Team were also locked, electric currents zipping across their armor. I was dismayed to feel my feet began to leave the ground as we were levitated above the ground as though we weighed nothing.

 _Completely helpless._ I wondered if she would kill us now. 

Cortana looked up into Chief's helmet, looking like her heart was breaking. "I just needed to know if I could still trust you."

That statement was so ridiculous, I may have laughed in other circumstances. 

She began to back away from him, averting her gaze now, as though ashamed. "You'll be safe inside this crytpum until my work is done," she said in a slightly louder voice, talking to all of us now, turning away.

I watched amazed as Chief lifted his left arm to her. I couldn't even move my fingers so I couldn't imagine the Herculean effort it must have taken him. He opened his palm to her. "Cortana," he said, voice strained. 

She paused, and slightly turned her head. "Goodbye, John." She said in a tiny voice filled with sadness as though she was crying. Then she looked ahead and walked a few steps before she vanished.

I saw John's hand lower, before we were pulled back, back into the Cryptum. Then the world went dark. 

 

* * *

 

I felt like I was floating in a dark ocean.  _Where am I?_ I thought concerned. I realized I wasn't in my armor, and could see my red hair floating around my face.

_The Domain.  
_

What was that? The thought _felt_ like it came from me, but I couldn't know that. 

So this was the Domain? 

_The holder of all that is known._

Another foreign thought inside my own head. But... if it knows everything...

_Ask._

...Ok then.

_Why was Chief so blinded by an AI?_

Suddenly, the ocean began to fade and a new image formed.

I saw Chief, resplendent in his green Mjolnir armor, somewhere where I was never with him.

Hermemories.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> While I was planning on this being the last chapter, I have another chapter of this story coming! I hope you enjoy this. Sorry I made you wait so long for this one!


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